Kit car business.

[cygnusx1]

Does anyone think that building one, two,or three replica Cobra's or GT40's per year would be a lucrative full time business as a second income to my spouses income? What would be some of the pitfalls of doing this full time instead of a 9-5 cubicle job?

 

I have some "free time" coming up and might be able to scrounge up enough dough to invest in a full kit to build for sale as a test run. I feel I certainly have the skills, the resources, and persistence to get the cars done right. They say love what you do, and I certainly love turning wrenches to make pretty metal move. I just can't stand cubicle life anymore and frankly, with my wife's income/benefits, and our current state in life, I can afford to try this out for a year or two.

 

Anyone else here do this sort of work? Recommended or not? I already founded, ran, and sold a small business, so I have an inkling of what it takes.

 

 

Thanks,

Dave

[Sparks280zt]

A family friend does it, turns out 2-3 a year, usually profits 80-120k a year. Seems to enjoy it and life.

 

Does anyone think that building one, two,or three replica Cobra's or GT40's per year would be a lucrative full time business as a second income to my spouses income? What would be some of the pitfalls of doing this full time instead of a 9-5 cubicle job?

 

I have some "free time" coming up and might be able to scrounge up enough dough to invest in a full kit to build for sale as a test run. I feel I certainly have the skills, the resources, and persistence to get the cars done right. They say love what you, and I certainly love turning wrenches to make pretty metal move. I just can't stand cubicle life anymore and frankly, with my wife's income/benefits, and our current state in life, I can afford to try this out for a year or two.

 

Anyone else here do this sort of work? Recommended or not? I already founded ran and sold a small business so i have an inkling of what it takes.

 

 

Thanks,

Dave

[hoov100]

i would worry about the legal issue's though.

[Sparks280zt]

My friend buys the rolling Corvette chasis' you see, they come with a title and all so its like tagging a Corvette.

[280zwitha383]

I work with a guy who's brother did a ferrari kit car out of a fiero and made close to 70k just from the one car. The legal implications might be a deterrent as mentioned though. Maybe have them sign a waiver? I don't know.

[zguy95135]

A lawyer can throw out a waiver really easily, just get them registered at the DMV before you sell them.

[buZy]

I say go for it Dave!

There will always be those who will try shoot you down when they see someone chasing , The American Dream.

 

What kind of car do you want to build? oh how about a mid eng LS series. Count me in for one!

[cygnusx1]

Forming an LLC, building them right, and getting all the paperwork correct for proper registration and inspection should take care of major legal worries.

[alexideways]

The only downfall I can see to this, is the demand, but I guess that since you live in the U.S. there is a way bigger market than here in Canada.

 

What I would do is, like you said, buy one, build it and drive it around to create hype and demand, take orders and build cars as needed at first.

 

Once you get up and running and you've made a name for yourself, people will come to see YOU instead of you trying to find buyers...

 

My $0.02, as I've thought of doing something like you say, but I think the market potential is not high enough here in Canada...

[cygnusx1]

I am thinking heavily about the demand also. Especially now with the housing market the way it's going. I am beginning to see foreclosures as well. In general, there is less expendable cash around. On the other hand, there is a car show locally to me that sees 800-1200 cars every Wednesday night. I also live within a one hour radius of NYC and the money out here is unimaginable. House after house, in the 2-5 million dollar range peppering the landscape. There are people with money to spend and I just need a way to connect.

[TravRMK]

I say go for it, if you can really get away with it for a year or two without crippling you financially. You could always go back to the 9-5 if it doesn't work out.

[JIM73240Z]

i say go for it. there are a lot of people who have the money to spend. at a local car show was a guy who bought a cobra kit car and had it rebuilt to the tune of 200k. for that he could get a real one but to each his own. and llc is cheap and have a chat with an lawer. ffr, occ, west coast choppers and others do the same thing as you and they get it done, somehow. buy one and try it out. the kit you buy may not be the easiest to build or other hurdles that you have to jump.

 

go for it.

 

jimbo

[240hoke]

I was thinking about doing the same thing, Factory Five has some really nice kits out, I LOVE the GTM and was looking really heavily into building one for sale.

 

But I believe there will always be demand for the cobra's especially since they can be built and sold for fairly cheap. They sell on the internet for 30-40+++ all day long depending on the build of course.

[alexideways]

I sure would like to try Factory 5's Daytona Coupe kit...

[Sparky]

I used to build the CSX series shelby cobras about 7 years ago (geez, has it really been 7 years?...ouch) for a multi-aspect garage that bought and sold regular cars and motorcycles, maintained all european cars and motorcycles, maintaned a fleet of vintage racing machines for the elite and built/restored original or custom cars.

 

I quit because of the Cobras. Nothing ever fit right, it was impossible to get steady billing time because we realistically couldnt charge 5 hours to install the transmission when the book states it should take 1...even though thats what it took because we has to modify the frame rails because they were not built correctly at the factory. The same theme can be applied throughout the entire car (with the exception of the electrics).

 

Selling them, even during the big boom of the late 90s/early 2000's was not easy, especially in a city that doesnt have alot of disposable income. We also built Westfield 7's and megabusas...we bought 7 kits, and sold 2 over a two year period (Dennis from Dpcars.net bought the first one) Logistically it was a nightmare trying to get the cars finished out, missing parts, poor fitting parts, lack of trustworthy painters and interior finishers, and uneasy buyers and thier significant others are all regular challenges we faced.

 

the bread and butter, the one thing that kept that shop going, was the maintenance side of the motorcycle/car business.

 

The above isnt always the case, poor management, poor timing, and poor quality kits direct from Shelby were the root of the problem. If you have trustworthy painters, and other finish-out workers your half way there!

 

If I was building cars I would build a few first to show off quality of the product, a rolling advertisement for the shop and kit. you could expand your service to include any and all kit cars, there are so many unfinished kits sitting in peoples houses just waiting for someone to finish them out.

Another thing to consider is that people that buy kit cars are typically do-it-your selfers that cannot afford to pay someone to build them a car and prefer to do everything themselves.

 

good luck though, I would love to do that but would be afraid that the stress involved in such a venture would destroy my love for the hobby and I would want to work on my own cars ever again.

[Pete84]

A retired friend of mine was pretty much ready to do a Factory Five cobra, but the smog and registration hassle for a kit car here in California scared him to a G35 sedean for 12k.

[psdenno]

We probably all dream of building our own car. It would be interestiing to know the percentage of sold kits that actually get built in home garages. The company that restored my '66 Mustang 2+2 GT several years ago also built Cobras. As was mentioned earlier, make sure you know your painter and upholterer if you're farming that work out. I think I would do one car on "spec" while I toiled at my day job before packing it in and becoming a full time builder. There are way too many kit cars sitting on lots in my upscale village - Porsche 356 and Cobra kits. Live the dream and let us know how it goes.

[Challenger]

13,000 for a Cobra Kit and 3000 for a Mustang donor car and you have yourself a car. Then sell it for 30 or 40 thousand. Make around 20 thousand profit per car.

[cygnusx1]

...Trouble is that the auctions are closing "reserve not met" all over the place with these cars at much lower than 30K. To compete, the car would need to be differentiated from the rest somehow.

[RTz]

To compete, the car would need to be differentiated from the rest somehow.

 

A bit of a tangent... maybe it need's to be YOUR car. YOUR design. YOUR etc. It will take many more years to bare fruit, but I think the potential is greater (both of failure and success). BUT, whichever way it goes, you'll alway's have unbeatable pride in your accomplishment.

 

Steve Grabber (grabbercars.com) is headed down that very path. Drop him a line. He's a terrific guy and would surely share his thoughts and experiences along the way. Tell him I sent you!